Work-related stress and atopic dermatitis: Results from the study on occupational allergy risks.

Chronic stress at work is ubiquitous in modern societies. However, its influence on atopic dermatitis (AD) has hardly been investigated. This study aimed to elucidate the association between work-related stress and AD via a longitudinal study. The analysis comprised data from three phases (2002-2003, 2007-2009, 2017-2018) of the prospective Study on Occupational Allergy Risks (SOLAR), including 1,240 young adults aged 16 to 18 years at baseline (61% female) who were originally recruited for the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood Phase II in 1995-1996. AD was assessed at all three phases based on self-reports of a physician's diagnosis and symptoms. Work-related stress was measured at all three periods using the work discontent and work overload scales from the Trier Inventory for the Assessment of Chronic Stress with adaptions to school and university. Generalized estimating equations were used to analyze the association between stress and AD, treating work discontent and work overload first as continuous and then as categorical exposure variables. We observed 50 AD cases (4%) at SOLAR I, 48 (4%) at SOLAR II, and 42 (3%) at SOLAR III. A one-point increase in the work discontent score was associated with an odds ratio (OR) for AD of 1.05 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00-1.10). The respective increase in the work overload score led to an OR of 1.03 (95% CI, 0.99-1.06). In the categorical analysis, there was no clear indication of elevated odds of AD in the highest vs. lowest exposure group (4th vs. 1st quartile: OR, 1.53; 95% CI, 0.92-2.53 for work discontent; OR, 1.38, 95% CI, 0.83-2.27 for work overload). Altogether, we observed limited to no evidence for an association between work-related stress and AD. Our study's ability to detect stronger evidence may have been compromised by shortcomings such as nondifferential misclassification of the outcome or insufficient statistical precision due to small numbers of AD cases. Another explanation could be that AD predominantly becomes evident in childhood, not in adulthood.

Full throttle: Demonstrating the speed, accuracy, and validity of a new method for continuous two-dimensional self-report and annotation.

Research on fine-grained dynamic psychological processes has increasingly come to rely on continuous self-report measures. Recent studies have extended continuous self-report methods to simultaneously collecting ratings on two dimensions of an experience. For all the variety of approaches, several limitations are inherent to most of them. First, current methods are primarily suited for bipolar, as opposed to unipolar, constructs. Second, respondents report on two dimensions using one hand, which may produce method driven error, including spurious relationships between the two dimensions. Third, two-dimensional reports have primarily been validated for consistency between reporters, rather than the predictive validity of idiosyncratic responses. In a series of tasks, the study reported here addressed these limitations by comparing a previously used method to a newly developed two-handed method, and by explicitly testing the validity of continuous two-dimensional responses. Results show that our new method is easier to use, faster, more accurate, with reduced method-driven dependence between the two dimensions, and preferred by participants. The validity of two-dimensional responding was also demonstrated in comparison to one-dimensional reporting, and in relation to post hoc ratings. Together, these findings suggest that our two-handed method for two-dimensional continuous ratings is a powerful and reliable tool for future research.

Why does early childhood deprivation increase the risk for depression and anxiety in adulthood? A developmental cascade model.

BACKGROUND: Using data from the English & Romanian Adoptees (ERA) study, we recently reported that early time-limited exposure to severe institutional deprivation is associated with early-onset and persistent neurodevelopmental problems and later-onset emotional problems. Here, we examine possible reasons for the late emergence of emotional problems in this cohort. Our main focus is on testing a developmental cascade mediated via the functional impact of early-appearing neurodevelopmental problems on late adolescent functioning. We also explore a second putative pathway via sensitization to stress. METHODS: The ERA study includes 165 Romanian individuals who spent their early lives in grossly depriving institutions and were subsequently adopted into UK families, along with 52 UK adoptees with no history of deprivation. Age six years symptoms of neurodevelopmental problems and age 15 anxiety/depression symptoms were assessed via parental reports. Young adult symptoms of depression and anxiety were assessed by both parent and self-reports; young adults also completed measures of stress reactivity, exposure to adverse life events, and functioning in work and interpersonal relationships. RESULTS: The path between early institutional deprivation and adult emotional problems was mediated via the impact of early neurodevelopmental problems on unemployment and poor friendship functioning during the transition to adulthood. The findings with regard to early deprivation, later life stress reactivity, and emotional problems were inconclusive. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis suggests that the risk for adult depression and anxiety following extreme institutional deprivation is explained through the effects of early neurodevelopmental problems on later social and vocational functioning. Future research should more fully examine the role of stress susceptibility in this model.

Adoptees' responses to separation from, and reunion with, their adoptive parent at age 4 years is associated with long-term persistence of autism symptoms following early severe institutional deprivation.

Institutionally deprived young children often display distinctive patterns of attachment, classified as insecure/other (INS/OTH), with their adoptive parents. The associations between INS/OTH and developmental trajectories of mental health and neurodevelopmental symptoms were examined. Age 4 attachment status was determined for 97 Romanian adoptees exposed to up to 24 months of deprivation in Romanian orphanages and 49 nondeprived UK adoptees. Autism, inattention/overactivity and disinhibited-social-engagement symptoms, emotional problems, and IQ were measured at 4, 6, 11, and 15 years and in young adulthood. Romanian adoptees with over 6 months deprivation (Rom>6) were more often classified as INS/OTH than UK and Romanian adoptees with less than 6 months deprivation combined. INS/OTH was associated with cognitive impairment at age 4 years. The interaction between deprivation, attachment status, and age for autism spectrum disorder assessment was significant, with greater symptom persistence in Rom>6 INS/OTH(+) than other groups. This effect was reduced when IQ at age 4 was controlled for. Age 4 INS/OTH in Rom>6 was associated with worse autism spectrum disorder outcomes up to two decades later. Its association with cognitive impairment at age 4 is consistent with INS/OTH being an early marker of this negative developmental trajectory, rather than its cause.

Work-related stress and incident asthma and rhinitis: results from the SOLAR study.

OBJECTIVES: This study analyzes the association of work-related stress with incident asthma and rhinitis in young adults with a special focus on gender-specific differences. METHODS: Incident asthma, wheezing and rhinitis were measured in a cohort of 2051 young German adults (aged 16-18 years at baseline) recruited by the prospective population-based SOLAR study (Study of Occupational Allergy Risks). Work-related stress was measured by the Trier Inventory for the Assessment of Chronic Stress (TICS). Two TICS scales, work overload and work discontent, were analysed. Logistic regression was conducted to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: In females, the odds for incident asthma were found to be 17% higher for each increase of the work discontent score by one point (OR 1.17, 95% CI 1.04-1.31). In males, no association was statistically significant. Incident rhinitis showed no association with any exposure variable. CONCLUSION: This study shows a link between work-related stress and incident asthma which seems to be confined to women. This study adds evidence about the association of work-related stress and asthma in young adults and can contribute to prevention for that particular age group.

Child-to-adult neurodevelopmental and mental health trajectories after early life deprivation: the young adult follow-up of the longitudinal English and Romanian Adoptees study.

BACKGROUND: Time-limited, early-life exposures to institutional deprivation are associated with disorders in childhood, but it is unknown whether effects persist into adulthood. We used data from the English and Romanian Adoptees study to assess whether deprivation-associated adverse neurodevelopmental and mental health outcomes persist into young adulthood. METHODS: The English and Romanian Adoptees study is a longitudinal, natural experiment investigation into the long-term outcomes of individuals who spent from soon after birth to up to 43 months in severe deprivation in Romanian institutions before being adopted into the UK. We used developmentally appropriate standard questionnaires, interviews completed by parents and adoptees, and direct measures of IQ to measure symptoms of autism spectrum disorder, inattention and overactivity, disinhibited social engagement, conduct or emotional problems, and cognitive impairment (IQ score <80) during childhood (ages 6, 11, and 15 years) and in young adulthood (22-25 years). For analysis, Romanian adoptees were split into those who spent less than 6 months in an institution and those who spent more than 6 months in an institution. We used a comparison group of UK adoptees who did not experience deprivation. We used mixed-effects regression models for ordered-categorical outcome variables to compare symptom levels and trends between groups. FINDINGS: Romanian adoptees who experienced less than 6 months in an institution (n=67 at ages 6 years; n=50 at young adulthood) and UK controls (n=52 at age 6 years; n=39 at young adulthood) had similarly low levels of symptoms across most ages and outcomes. By contrast, Romanian adoptees exposed to more than 6 months in an institution (n=98 at ages 6 years; n=72 at young adulthood) had persistently higher rates than UK controls of symptoms of autism spectrum disorder, disinhibited social engagement, and inattention and overactivity through to young adulthood (pooled p<0·0001 for all). Cognitive impairment in the group who spent more than 6 months in an institution remitted from markedly higher rates at ages 6 years (p=0·0001) and 11 years (p=0·0016) compared with UK controls, to normal rates at young adulthood (p=0·76). By contrast, self-rated emotional symptoms showed a late-onset pattern with minimal differences versus UK controls at ages 11 years (p=0·0449) and 15 years (p=0·17), and then marked increases by young adulthood (p=0·0005), with similar effects seen for parent ratings. The high deprivation group also had a higher proportion of people with low educational achievement (p=0·0195), unemployment (p=0·0124), and mental health service use (p=0·0120, p=0·0032, and p=0·0003 for use when aged <11 years, 11-14 years, and 15-23 years, respectively) than the UK control group. A fifth (n=15) of individuals who spent more than 6 months in an institution were problem-free at all assessments. INTERPRETATION: Notwithstanding the resilience shown by some adoptees and the adult remission of cognitive impairment, extended early deprivation was associated with long-term deleterious effects on wellbeing that seem insusceptible to years of nurturance and support in adoptive families. FUNDING: Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, Department of Health, Jacobs Foundation, Nuffield Foundation.

Adult disinhibited social engagement in adoptees exposed to extreme institutional deprivation: examination of its clinical status and functional impact.

BackgroundEarly-life institutional deprivation produces disinhibited social engagement (DSE). Portrayed as a childhood condition, little is known about the persistence of DSE-type behaviours into, presentation during, and their impact on, functioning in adulthood.AimsWe examine these issues in the young adult follow-up of the English and Romanian Adoptees study.MethodA total of 122 of the original 165 Romanian adoptees who had spent up to 43 months as children in Ceausescu's Romanian orphanages and 42 UK adoptees were assessed for DSE behaviours, neurodevelopmental and mental health problems, and impairment between ages 2 and 25 years.ResultsYoung adult DSE behaviour was strongly associated with early childhood deprivation, with a sixfold increase for those who spent more than 6 months in institutions. However, although DSE overlapped with autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms it was not, in itself, related to broader patterns of mental health problems or impairments in daily functioning in young adulthood.ConclusionsDSE behaviour remained a prominent, but largely clinically benign, young adult feature of some adoptees who experienced early deprivation.

Tracking daily fatigue fluctuations in multiple sclerosis: ecological momentary assessment provides unique insights.

Studies investigating the prevalence, cause, and consequence of multiple sclerosis (MS) fatigue typically use single measures that implicitly assume symptom-stability over time, neglecting information about if, when, and why severity fluctuates. We aimed to examine the extent of moment-to-moment and day-to-day variability in fatigue in relapsing-remitting MS and healthy individuals, and identify daily life determinants of fluctuations. Over 4 weekdays, 76 participants (38 relapsing-remitting MS; 38 controls) recruited from multiple sites provided real-time self-reports six times daily (n = 1661 observations analyzed) measuring fatigue severity, stressors, mood, and physical exertion, and daily self-reports of sleep quality. Fatigue fluctuations were evident in both groups. Fatigue was highest in relapsing-remitting MS, typically peaking in late-afternoon. In controls, fatigue started lower and increased steadily until bedtime. Real-time stressors and negative mood were associated with increased fatigue, and positive mood with decreased fatigue in both groups. Increased fatigue was related to physical exertion in relapsing-remitting MS, and poorer sleep quality in controls. In relapsing-remitting MS, fatigue fluctuates substantially over time. Many daily life determinants of fluctuations are similar in relapsing-remitting MS and healthy individuals (stressors, mood) but physical exertion seems more relevant in relapsing-remitting MS and sleep quality most relevant in healthy individuals.

Early severe institutional deprivation is associated with a persistent variant of adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: clinical presentation, developmental continuities and life circumstances in the English and Romanian Adoptees study.

BACKGROUND: Early-life institutional deprivation is associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) later in childhood and adolescence. In this article, we examine, for the first time, the persistence of deprivation-related ADHD into young adulthood in a sample of individuals adopted as young children by UK families after periods in extremely depriving Romanian orphanages. METHODS: We estimated rates of ADHD at age 15 years and in young adulthood (ages 22-25 years) in individuals at low (LoDep; nondeprived UK adoptees and Romanian adoptees with less than 6-month institutional exposure) and high deprivation-related risk (HiDep; Romanian adoptees with more than 6-month exposure). Estimates were based on parent report using DSM-5 childhood symptom and impairment criteria. At age 15, data were available for 108 LoDep and 86 HiDep cases, while in young adulthood, the numbers were 83 and 60, respectively. Data on education and employment status, IQ, co-occurring symptoms of young adult disinhibited social engagement (DSE), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), cognitive impairment, conduct disorder (CD), callous-unemotional (CU) traits, anxiety, depression and quality of life (QoL) were also collected. RESULTS: ADHD rates in the LoDep group were similar to the general population in adolescence (5.6%) and adulthood (3.8%). HiDep individuals were, respectively, nearly four (19%) and over seven (29.3%) times more likely to meet criteria, than LoDep. Nine 'onset' young adult cases emerged, but these had a prior childhood history of elevated ADHD behaviours at ages 6, 11 and 15 years. Young adult ADHD was equally common in males and females, was predominantly inattentive in presentation and co-occurred with high levels of ASD, DSE and CU features. ADHD was associated with high unemployment and low educational attainment. CONCLUSION: We provide the first evidence of a strong persistence into adulthood of a distinctively complex and impairing deprivation-related variant of ADHD. Our results confirm the powerful association of early experience with later development in a way that suggests a role for deep-seated alterations to brain structure and function.

Ironic twists of sentence meaning can be signaled by forward move of prosodic stress.

Prosodic stresses are known to affect the meaning of utterances, but exactly how they do this is not known in many cases. We focus on the mechanisms underlying the meaning effects of ironic prosody (e.g., teasing or blaming through an ironic twist), which is frequently used in both personal and mass-media communication. To investigate ironic twists, we created 30 sentences that can be interpreted both ironically and nonironically, depending on the context. In Experiment 1, 14 of these sentences were identified as being most reliably understood in the two conditions. In Experiment 2, we recorded the 14 sentences spoken in both a literal and an ironic condition by 14 speakers, and the resulting 392 recorded sentences were acoustically analyzed. In Experiment 3, 20 listeners marked the acoustically prominent words, thus identifying perceived prosodic stresses. In Experiment 4, 53 participants rated how ironic they perceived the 392 recorded sentences to be. The combined analysis of irony ratings, acoustic features, and various prosodic stress characteristics revealed that ironic meaning is primarily signaled by a stress shift from the end of a sentence to an earlier position. This change in position might function as a "warning" cue for listeners to consider potential alternative meanings of the sentence. Thus, beyond giving individual words a stronger contrastive or emphatic role, the distribution of prosodic stresses can also prime opposite meanings for identical sentences, supporting the view that the dynamic aspect of prosody conveys important cues in human communication. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Salivary cortisol in ambulatory assessment--some dos, some don'ts, and some open questions.

The impact of stress on health and disease is an important research topic in psychosomatic medicine. Because research on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis regulation under controlled laboratory studies lacks ecological validity, it needs to be complemented by a research program that includes momentary ambulatory assessment. The measurement of salivary cortisol offers the possibility to trace the free steroid hormone concentrations in ambulant settings. Therefore, in this article, we first discuss the role of salivary cortisol in ambulatory monitoring. We start with a brief description of HPA axis regulation, and we then consider cortisol assessments in other organic materials, followed by a presentation of common salivary markers of HPA axis regulation suitable for ambulatory assessment. We further provide an overview on assessment designs and sources of variability within and between subjects (intervening variables), acknowledge the issue of (non)compliance, and address statistical aspects. We further give an overview of associations with psychosocial and health-related variables relevant for ambulatory assessment. Finally, we deal with preanalytical aspects of laboratory salivary cortisol analysis. The relative simplicity of salivary cortisol assessment protocols may lead to an overoptimistic view of the robustness of this method. We thus discuss several important issues related to the collection and storage of saliva samples and present empirical data on the stability of salivary cortisol measurements over time.

Neuropsychological correlates of emotional lability in children with ADHD.

BACKGROUND: Emotional lability (EL) is commonly seen in patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The reasons for this association remain currently unknown. To address this question, we examined the relationship between ADHD and EL symptoms, and performance on a range of neuropsychological tasks to clarify whether EL symptoms are predicted by particular cognitive and/or motivational dysfunctions and whether these associations are mediated by the presence of ADHD symptoms. METHODS: A large multi-site sample of 424 carefully diagnosed ADHD cases and 564 unaffected siblings and controls aged 6-18 years performed a broad neuropsychological test battery, including a Go/No-Go Task, a warned four-choice Reaction Time task, the Maudsley Index of Childhood Delay Aversion and Digit span backwards. Neuropsychological variables were aggregated as indices of processing speed, response variability, executive functions, choice impulsivity and the influence of energetic and/or motivational factors. EL and ADHD symptoms were regressed on each neuropsychological variable in separate analyses controlling for age, gender and IQ, and, in subsequent regression analyses, for ADHD and EL symptoms respectively. RESULTS: Neuropsychological variables significantly predicted ADHD and EL symptoms with moderate-to-low regression coefficients. However, the association between neuropsychological parameters on EL disappeared entirely when the effect of ADHD symptoms was taken into account, revealing that the association between the neuropsychological performance measures and EL is completely mediated statistically by variations in ADHD symptoms. Conversely, neuropsychological effects on ADHD symptoms remained after EL symptom severity was taken into account. CONCLUSIONS: The neuropsychological parameters examined, herein, predict ADHD more strongly than EL. They cannot explain EL symptoms beyond what is already accounted for by ADHD symptom severity. The association between EL and ADHD cannot be explained by these cognitive or motivational deficits. Alternative mechanisms, including overlapping genetic influences (pleiotropic effects) and/or alternative neuropsychological processes need to be considered.

Specific psychological variables predict quality of diet in women of lower, but not higher, educational attainment.

Our previous work found that perceived control over life was a significant predictor of the quality of diet of women of lower educational attainment. In this paper, we explore the influence on quality of diet of a range of psychological and social factors identified during focus group discussions, and specify the way this differs in women of lower and higher educational attainment. We assessed educational attainment, quality of diet, and psycho-social factors in 378 women attending Sure Start Children's Centres and baby clinics in Southampton, UK. Multiple-group path analysis showed that in women of lower educational attainment, the effect of general self-efficacy on quality of diet was mediated through perceptions of control and through food involvement, but that there were also direct effects of social support for healthy eating and having positive outcome expectancies. There was no effect of self-efficacy, perceived control or outcome expectancies on the quality of diet of women of higher educational attainment, though having more social support and food involvement were associated with improved quality of diet in these women. Our analysis confirms our hypothesis that control-related factors are more important in determining dietary quality in women of lower educational attainment than in women of higher educational attainment.

Evaluation of a Web-based intervention to promote hand hygiene: exploratory randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Hand-washing is regarded as a potentially important behavior for preventing transmission of respiratory infection, particularly during a pandemic. OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to evaluate whether a Web-based intervention can encourage more frequent hand-washing in the home, and to examine potential mediators and moderators of outcomes, as a necessary first step before testing effects of the intervention on infection rates in the PRIMIT trial (PRimary care trial of a website based Infection control intervention to Modify Influenza-like illness and respiratory infection Transmission). METHODS: In a parallel-group pragmatic exploratory trial design, 517 nonblinded adults recruited through primary care were automatically randomly assigned to a fully automated intervention comprising 4 sessions of tailored motivational messages and self-regulation support (n = 324) or to a no-intervention control group (n = 179; ratio 2:1). Hand-washing frequency and theory of planned behavior cognitions relating to hand-washing were assessed by online questionnaires at baseline (in only half of the control participants, to permit evaluation of effects of baseline assessment on effect sizes), at 4 weeks (postintervention; all participants), and at 12 weeks. RESULTS: Hand-washing rates in the intervention group were higher at 4 weeks than in the control group (mean 4.40, n = 285 and mean 4.04, n = 157, respectively; P < .001, Cohen d = 0.42) and remained higher at 12 weeks (mean 4.45, n = 282 and mean 4.12, n = 154, respectively; P < .001, Cohen d = 0.34). Hand-washing intentions and positive attitudes toward hand-washing increased more from baseline to 4 weeks in the intervention group than in the control group. Mediation analyses revealed positive indirect effects of the intervention on change in hand-washing via intentions (coefficient = .15, 95% confidence interval [CI], .08-.26) and attitudes (coefficient = 0.16, 95% CI, .09-.26). Moderator analyses confirmed that the intervention was similarly effective for men and women, those of higher and lower socioeconomic status, and those with higher and lower levels of perceived risk. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides promising evidence that Web-based interventions could potentially provide an effective method of promoting hand hygiene in the home. Data were collected during the 2010 influenza pandemic, when participants in both groups had already been exposed to extensive publicity about the need for hand hygiene, suggesting that our intervention could add to existing public health campaigns. However, further research is required to determine the effects of the intervention on actual infection rates. TRIAL: International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN): 75058295; http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN75058295 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/62KSbkNmm).

Self-soothing touch and being hugged reduce cortisol responses to stress: A randomized controlled trial on stress, physical touch, and social identity.

Background: Being touched by others improves stress coping. However, when touch from others is unavailable, feels uncomfortable, or is not considered to be safe (as in the COVID-19 pandemic), self-touch gestures, like placing a hand on the heart, may provide an alternative way to experience less strain. Methods and materials: In this study, 159 healthy participants (96 women, 62 men, and 1 non-binary person), aged 18-35 years, were exposed to a standardized psychosocial stressor (Trier Social Stress Test) to investigate whether self-soothing touch or receiving a hug from others has a buffering effect on their stress responses. In addition, the study explored whether the effectiveness of these interventions is moderated by participants' assignment to a "personal" or "social" identity condition. Participants provided salivary cortisol samples, wore an ECG to record their heart rate, and completed self-report measures on stress-related subjective-emotional states during the study. Results: For cortisol, mixed-effects regression models with Touch and Identity as between-subject factors and Time as the within-subject factor yielded a significant main effect for touch and a significant interaction of Touch x Time indicating that cortisol levels differed between the experimental touch interventions. Post-hoc contrast tests showed that participants in both touch conditions had lower cortisol levels after the stressor than those in the control conditions. Heart rates and self-reported measures of stress neither differed across touch nor identity conditions. The three-way interaction for Touch x Identity x Time was non-significant for either outcome measure. Discussion: These results are in line with previous work indicating that physical touch has protective effects on physiological stress responses but not necessarily on self-reported stress and suggest that self-soothing touch and receiving hugs are simple and yet potentially powerful means for buffering individuals' resilience against stress.

The stressed student: influence of written examinations and oral presentations on salivary cortisol concentrations in university students.

Laboratory research has demonstrated that social-evaluative threat has an influence on the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis (HPA). In two studies using independent samples, we evaluated the anticipatory cortisol response to a written university examination (n = 35) and to an oral presentation (n = 34). Saliva samples were collected before and after the examinations and on a control day. Additionally, saliva samples were collected on the day before the written examination and a control day. Results revealed significantly elevated cortisol concentrations on the day prior to the examination; however, this effect occurred only in those participants who had their control day after the examination. Cortisol concentrations were elevated on the examination day, with increased concentrations before but not after the examination. For the oral presentation study, the results revealed substantially elevated cortisol concentrations before and after the oral presentation. Taken together the results indicate that written examinations cause a mild anticipatory HPA response while oral presentations induce a strong HPA response. These findings appear to support the idea that social-evaluative threat is an important factor determining the size of the HPA response to laboratory stressors as well as to real-life stressors.

Lower maternal folate status in early pregnancy is associated with childhood hyperactivity and peer problems in offspring.

BACKGROUND: Maternal nutrition during pregnancy has been linked with fetal brain development and psychopathology in the offspring. We examined for associations of maternal folate status and dietary intake during pregnancy with brain growth and childhood behavioural difficulties in the offspring. METHODS: In a prospective cohort study, maternal red blood cell folate (RCF) was measured at 14 weeks of pregnancy and total folate intake (TFI) from food and supplements was assessed in early and late pregnancy. The offspring's head circumference and body weight were measured at birth and in infancy, and 100 mothers reported on children's behavioural difficulties at a mean age of 8.75 years using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. RESULTS: Lower maternal RCF and TFI in early pregnancy were associated with higher childhood hyperactivity (RCF: beta = -.24; p = .013; TFI: beta = -.24; p = .022) and peer problems scores (RCF: beta = -.28; p = .004; TFI: beta = -.28; p = .009) in the offspring. Maternal gestational RCF was positively associated with head circumference at birth (adjusted for gestational age), and mediation analyses showed significant inverse indirect associations of RCF with hyperactivity/inattention and peer problems via fetal brain growth. Adjustment for mother's smoking and drinking alcohol during pregnancy did not change the results. CONCLUSIONS: Although the associations are small and residual confounding is possible, our data provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that lower folate status in early pregnancy might impair fetal brain development and affect hyperactivity/inattention and peer problems in childhood.

5HTT genotype moderates the influence of early institutional deprivation on emotional problems in adolescence: evidence from the English and Romanian Adoptee (ERA) study.

BACKGROUND: A common polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4, 5HTT) has been repeatedly shown to moderate the influence of childhood adversity and stressful life events on the development of psychopathology. Using data from the English and Romanian Adoptee Study, a prospective-longitudinal study of individuals (n = 125) exposed to severe early institutional deprivation (ID), we tested whether the effect of ID on adolescent emotional problems is moderated by 5HTT genotype and stressful life events in adolescence. METHODS: Emotional problems were assessed using questionnaire data (age 11), and on the basis of the CAPA diagnostic interview (age 15). Additionally, the number of stressful life events was measured. RESULTS: There was a significant effect for genotype (p = .003) and a gene x environment interaction (p = .008) that was independent of age at testing. Carriers of the s/l and s/s genotype who experienced severe ID showed the highest emotional problem scores, while l/l homozygotes in the severe ID group showed the lowest overall levels. Furthermore, s/s carriers in the severe ID group who experienced a high number of stressful life events between 11 and 15 years had the largest increases in emotional problem scores, while a low number of stressful life events was associated with the largest decrease (4-way interaction: p = .05). CONCLUSIONS: The effects of severe early ID on emotional problems in adolescence are moderated by 5HTT genotype, and influenced by stressful life events in adolescence.

Oxytocin and the stress buffering effect of social company: a genetic study in daily life.

Social relationships are a crucial determinant of both mental and physical health. This effect is partly due to social buffering of stress. Animal studies suggest that social buffering is mediated via the oxytocin system, while studies in humans are sparse and limited by the low ecological validity of laboratory settings. In the present study, participants (N = 326) completed smartphone questionnaires four times a day over 4 to 5 days, measuring stressors, negative affect, and social context to assess social buffering. We found that under stress, participants reported a higher need for social company. Further, the impact of prior stressful events on momentary negative affect was attenuated by the perceived pleasantness of current social company. This social buffering effect was moderated by haplotypes of the oxytocin receptor gene, based on two well-described single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs2268498, rs53576). Effects were robust when controlling for gender and age, applying different data quality criteria, and even apparent in genotype-based analyses. Our findings demonstrate that social buffering and its modulation by oxytocin system characteristics have implications for life as lived outside the laboratory.

Highs and lows: Genetic susceptibility to daily events.

Why people differ in their susceptibility to external events is essential to our understanding of personality, human development, and mental disorders. Genes explain a substantial portion of these differences. Specifically, genes influencing the serotonin system are hypothesized to be differential susceptibility factors, determining a person's reactivity to both positive and negative environments. We tested whether genetic variation in the serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) is a differential susceptibility factor for daily events. Participants (N = 326, 77% female, mean age = 25, range = 17-36) completed smartphone questionnaires four times a day over four to five days, measuring stressors, uplifts, positive and negative affect. Affect was predicted from environment valence in the previous hour on a within-person level using three-level autoregressive linear mixed models. The 5-HTTLPR fulfilled all criteria of a differential susceptibility factor: Positive affect in carriers of the short allele (S) was less reactive to both uplifts and stressors, compared to homozygous carriers of the long allele (L/L). This pattern might reflect relative affective inflexibility in S-allele carriers. Our study provides insight into the serotonin system's general role in susceptibility and highlights the need to assess the whole spectrum of naturalistic experiences.